We put the finishing touches on an impressive weekend for the city of New Orleans earlier this month as Tulane University served as the host institution for the 2012 NCAA® Men’s Final Four®. Numerous activities took place in our city leading to an estimated economic boost of approximately $135 million. Thank you to those who had a helping hand in making the 2012 NCAA® Men’s Final Four® a success for all.

As many of our spring sports hit the final stretch of their season, we look back at what has been a strong spring as our teams continue to improve. Both men’s and women’s tennis attained a national ranking at the same time since 2005. In addition, our women’s tennis team posted the most wins since the 2004-2005 season. Congratulations to both programs on a fantastic year.

Your women’s golf team placed third at the Conference USA Championship yesterday, which saw junior golfer Maribel Lopez Porras claim her first individual medalist title after shooting an overall 216 (E) during the three-day tournament.

On the diamond, baseball hits the road this weekend in a pivotal series against East Carolina as they battle for position in a highly competitive C-USA this year.

Tulane University and the city of New Orleans will be the host of another exciting event this spring when the C-USA Track & Field Championship takes place May 11-14 at Tad Gormley Stadium in City Park. Come out and support your Green Wave men and women as they compete for a C-USA Championship. Click here for more information.

Those of you in New Orleans will start seeing “Tulane Stadium Coming Home” yard signs throughout the community (see below). There has been amazing support for this game-changing project locally and the yard signs are a small way to express your excitement about Tulane Stadium coming back to campus. This Monday night, I was in New York for the annual “Beads on Broadway” event along with 650 Tulanians and there was a huge round of applause when the introduction video showed images of the new stadium.

That response is not unique – both locally and nationally, our alumni, parents and friends are counting down the days until the opening of the stadium in 2014. If you have not yet done so, please express your support by visiting www.TulaneStadium.com and making a gift to TAF – Home Field Advantage, or by picking up your own “Tulane Stadium Coming Home” yard sign at the Wilson Center.

Looking to get some exercise before Jazz Fest begins on Saturday? You have a couple days left to register or sponsor the 4th Annual Tulane Athletics 5K which will be held this Saturday, April 28 at 8 a.m. The fun run/walk will take place throughout our beautiful uptown campus. We still have several student-athletes who need to be sponsored, so help us grow our Tulane Athletics Fund (TAF) membership by sponsoring one of our outstanding student-athletes today. To register or sponsor, please visit Tulane Athletics 5K. We hope to see you on Saturday!